Charged particle beam devices have many functions in a plurality of industrial fields, including, but not limited to, electron beam inspection (EBI), critical dimension (CD) measurements of semiconductor devices during manufacturing, defect review (DR) of semiconductor devices during manufacturing, exposure systems for lithography, detecting devices and testing systems. Thus, there is a high demand for structuring, testing and inspecting specimens within the micrometer and nanometer scale. Micrometer and nanometer scale process control, inspection or structuring can be done with charged particle beams, e.g. electron beams, which are generated and focused in charged particle beam devices, such as electron microscopes. Charged particle beams offer superior spatial resolution compared to, for example, photon beams due to their short wavelengths.
High throughput electron beam inspection (EBI) systems can utilize multi-beam charged particle beam devices, such as electron microscopes, that are able to create, focus and scan multiple primary charged particle beams inside a single column of the charged particle beam device. A sample can be scanned by an array of focused primary charged particle beams, which in turn create multiple signal charged particle beams. The individual signal charged particle beams are mapped onto detection elements.
A rotational position of the array of primary charged particle beams can be influenced by operating parameters of the charged particle beam device. Accordingly, a rotational position of the array of primary charged particle beams can change, for example, when an image mode of the charged particle beam device is changed. The individual primary charged particle beams cannot reliably be mapped onto predetermined spots on the sample.
In view of the above, charged particle beam devices, systems, and methods that overcome at least some of the problems in the art are beneficial. In particular, charged particle beam devices, systems, and methods that can reliably map individual primary charged particle beams onto predetermined spots on a sample, even when operating parameters of the charged particle beam device are changed, are beneficial.